Reconfigurable port arrays for wavelength selectable switch

US11906823B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• II-VI DELAWARE, INC. · US

Inventors

• Guomin JIANG · Fremont, US
• Helen Chen · Cupertino, US
• Haiji Yuan · Stow, US
• Lixin Wang · Beijing, CN
• WenYi Cao · Shanghai, CN
• Xuewen Lu · San Jose, US
• Qingyu Li · Cupertino, US
• Yimin Ji · Hudson, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 20, 2021
• Grant date: Feb 20, 2024
• Expiry date: Jun 5, 2041

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04Q2011/0026
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A reconfigurable polarization rotator is formed of an array of very small liquid crystal (LC) cells (e.g., cells of less than 10 μm in width, termed “microcells”), referred to hereinafter as “microcells”. Each LC microcell is addressable by a separate electrical voltage input that independently controls the polarization rotation performed by the associated LC microcell. By defining a set of adjacent microcells to be held at the same voltage level, that group may be used to form a polarization rotator window of a proper size for a first fiber array configuration. When a fiber array of a different configuration (say, an array with twice the pitch) is used, a different-sized group of adjacent LC microcells is held at a common voltage level so as to form a reconfigured “window” of a new dimension.